Chair.



A. WANNER, In.

CHAI'R.

APPLICATION man -1u|.v 31.1915.

Patented. July 17, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESS I //V l/E/V TOR A. WANNER, JR.-

CHAIR. Y

APPLICATION FILED JULY 31. 1915.

.965;. Patented July 17, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- i 1 i ll ALBERT wnnnnn, an, on NEW YORK, 1v. Y.

CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 17, 1917.

Application filed July 31, 1915. Serial no. 42,918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT WVANNER, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chairs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to back-and-back-leg structures for chairs of the class in which the independence of the back-proper as a part of the design of said structure is emphasized by giving the frame of such back-proper an oval or other endless or open form. There are severalknown ways of forming these structures. One is to bend the frame for the back-proper into endless shape and then dowel the legs thereto; another is to bend a suitable length of wood into an arch in which the legs of the structure shall be integral continuations of the side portions of the completed back frame and then bridge the space between the twoextremities at the proper height with an inset piece which will form the lower side of said completed back frame; and a third is to provide two suitable lengths of wood, whose upper partswill form the sides of the completed back frame and whose lower parts the legs of the structure, and then bridge the space between them with upper and lower inset pieces to form the top and bottom sides of the back frame. The first two constructions involve woodbending, which is always expensive and which in a measure restricts the liberty of the designer; all three involve joints of such character and disposition that Weakness is imported into the chair at points where it should be peculiarly adapted to withstand strains.

The object of the present invention is to provide a back-and-back-leg structure which shall be at once cheaper to manufacture and stronger than such structures heretofore proposed. In carrying out my invention I provide a back member, consisting of a back proper and downwardly projecting integral stubs, and legs lap-jointed to the stubs, the lap-joints being preferably disposed where the seat is attached to the backand-back-leg structure so that the means to secure the seat to said structure may pass through and thus bind the lap-joints. Usually, the back-proper and stubs will be formed of wood, so as to conform in material with the rest of the chair, and in such case the material employed is preferably laminated wood veneer having the grain of the cemented layers crossing, so that there will be no place at which splitting would occur under strains, for instance across the back-proper or the stubs.

In the accompanying drawings,

'Figure 1 is a front elevation of the improved back-and-back-leg structure,

Fig. 2 is a section on the line mw of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the preferred form of the back member;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation thereof; and,

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line yy of Fig. 3.

0; is the back member of the improved back and back-leg structure, the same including the back-proper 5, formed oval or according to any other elected design, and the downwardly projecting stubs 0. (Z designates the backlegs. Each of these has its upper end lap-j ointed, as at e, to the back member, in the preferred construction each extending from the lower end of each stub c more or less above the point where the latter merges into the body part b of the member a, the adjoining surfaces of each leg and the member a being glued together and the parts being also preferably secured together by screws or other penetrating devices f. By extending, as at g, the upper end of each leg above the point where the corresponding stub projects from the body part b the stub is very appreciably reinforced by the leg, as will be obvious, especially where it is desired to give the stub less thickness than the body part b.

The seat It is preferably attached to the back-and-back-leg structure so that its frame, as the ring 2', comes in a horizontal plane cutting the lap-joint, so that a lag screw or the like j, for securing the seat in place, will penetrate and bind together the two parts of the joint.

In the preferred construction of the backand-back-leg structure, I form the back member thereof as follows, thereby producing a back member which cannot split under the strains to which the backs of chairs are usually subjected, to wit, across the back proper thereof, especially if it is formed oval or in any other endless shape, or across one of the stubs of said member. The said member is formed of layers Zs of wood veneer superimposed upon and suitably cemented to each other, each layer having the parts thereof respectively included in the back-proper b and stub 0 integral with each other. The crossing of the grain of the veneer of course reinforces the member thus formed in the particular above noted. Assuming the back-proper to be oval or otherwise endless in form it is immaterial whether each layer of the back member is first shaped to the ultimate elevation of the said member before the layers are cemented together, or several sheets of veneer are superimposed upon and cemented to each other and then the laminated body thus produced cut out to form a back member of the particular design required, although the latter is preferred.

By my invention, the back-and-back leg structure of chairs of the class particularly noted herein are made practically indestructible. The back member is incapable of spliting, as it is entirely WithOllt joints, and the joint between each leg and the backmember is of such character as not to Weaken either of the parts or to require extraordinary' skill and care in its formation. The construction in fact, without limiting the designer in the matter of shaping the parts to give any chosen artistic effect, imparts strength in the vicinity where heretofore chairs of this class Were weak.

It'will be understood that in the form of the invention illustratedthe back-proper is suitably adapted, as by the grooveZ, to receive the margin of caning or other material for filling the space formed thereby.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. The hereindescribed back-and-back-leg structure for chairs consisting of a back member including a back-proper and integral stubs projecting downwardly therefrom and legs lap-jointed to said stubs, in combination with a seat frame arranged in a horizontal plane intersecting each lapjoint, and securing devices penetrating the lap portions of the legs and back member and securing the seat frame to said structure.

2. The hereindescribed back-and-back-lcg structure for chairs consisting of a back member including a back-proper and illtegral stubs projecting downwardly therefrom and legs having their upper ends lapjointed with both the stubs and the back proper.

3. The hereindescr'ibed back-and-back-le structure for chairs consisting of a back member including a back-proper and stubs projecting downwardly therefrom and legs lap-jointed to said stubs, each lap-joint extending up and down and the back-proper and stubs being composed of up-and-down extending layers of sheet material cemented together and each extending into both the back-proper and the stubs.

In testimony whereof I ai'liX my signature.

ALBERT WANNER, JR.

Copies of'thi's'patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington,- D; G. 

